


nightmare

by aestheticrobin



Category: Artemis: Requiem (Comics), DCU (Comics), Red Hood and the Outlaws (Comics)
Genre: Alternate Universe - No Powers, Artemis Centric, F/M, Jaytemis, Light Angst, Mental Health Issues, Suicide Attempt, idk what to tag tbh, jason is there for her
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-22
Updated: 2019-10-22
Packaged: 2020-12-28 09:41:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,127
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21134630
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aestheticrobin/pseuds/aestheticrobin
Summary: “ i'm no sweet dreambut i'm a hell of a night ”— in which artemis isn't alright, and a certain someone steps up to help her





	nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> and here i am with another quick one shot to make up for my lack of motivation and inspiration on writing a new actual story, and because we all -- at least i do -- need some new jaytemis content asap ,,
> 
> it is once again an au (why do i love au stories so much?!) and it was mainly written as i listened to "nightmare" by halsey and "hot girl bummer" by blackbear
> 
> so enjoy this as i am trying to improve my writing and working on some requests and a new story ;)
> 
> (also ,, this was supposed to have a different ending, but i decided to stick with this in the end)

She stumbled a bit, but she could still maintain her integrity and balance her body on top of the red high heels as she walked out of the bar with an almost finished bottle of whiskey in her hand -- probably her second already, nothing seemed to work on her mission to get completely drunk. What kind of thing was she going through?! Was she getting depressed? Or was she just lonely? Too damn lonely.

Artemis had no idea what was going on inside her head, or in her chest, but she knew she was breaking under all of the pressure. She was never, and never would be, even the slightest bit good enough. People kept asking more and more from her, but she could never stand up to the standards, and now? Now she was crashing down silently, all by herself, long ago abandoned by everyone who one day cared (or at least pretended to) about her. Artemis was once again a lost lonely child, just like in the earlier years of her life.

But she could handle it... couldn't she? Artemis had learned from the first days of her life to keep it all in, to be cold and serious and stand strong against anything and anyone, burying all of her feelings deep inside. It would be better for everyone if she just learned to suffer in silence. If she caused the chaos, it would be her task to deal with the consequences by herself. "You'll be fine", she tells herself everytime, shoving everything away, "Just ignore it", she blinks the tears away in a matter of seconds and no one even notices, "Don't feel a thing", and so she goes numb, ready to face another cruel day in this cold and dark world by herself.

A worn leather jacket was the only thing she wore over the thin short dress she had picked for the night -- she had no idea why! -- and it miserably failed to keep her warm from the slicing cold nights of Gotham. Not that it mattered. Artemis couldn't feel the cold anyway.

Her heels clicked against the concrete sidewalk, sometimes even carelessly stepping on water poodles, from the rain that fell earlier. Artemis didn't care. She couldn't even recall a single thing she gave a fuck about. It felt like she was living dead already.

The woman knew very well no one liked her. She knew she was called a nightmare. Everyone was warned to stay away from her, and she didn't even worry -- deep down, she did, as one of her biggest fears was becoming true once again --, she just shrugged it off and continued on alone. Artemis Grace was being rejected. That was fine. She didn't fear it at all, no. Why would she? Artemis was forced to grow up way too soom, and so she reached herself everything, how to not depend on anyone but herself. 

Too absorbed in her own wrecking thoughts, she only realized where her instinct was leading her once she walked inside the building and pressed the worn "5th floor" button on the elevator. The doors in front of her closed, and she leaned her body against one of the walls of the elevator, taking one big last sip to empty the bottle in her hand and looking around the well-known cubicle while it slowly made its way up. She couldn't help but bite her lip as she let out a chuckle, remembering about that time the elevator broke and they got stuck in there for hours, touching and fucking each other. What a night it had been!

It was those little peaks of adrenaline in random nights out that made her feel "quite" alive, that made her feel something, since no quantity of alcohol could get her even close to drunk a long ago from now.

As the "ding" noise echoed inside the small cabin, followed by the opening doors, she regained the small bit of confidence within her and walked out towards the door she knew very well. She pressed the bell button and, in a matter of seconds, the door opened to reveal the sight of the sleepy man, dressed in only a pair of grey sweatpants and running his fingers through his messy black hair -- his sexy bed hair.

"Artemis? What are you doing here at-..." the man couldn't even finish his question before he was cut off by the woman's lips pressed against his.

Rushing to get inside and kicking the door closed with her foot, Artemis threw the empty bottle she carried away and pressed the man's body against the door, still engaging in that intense lustful kiss. Their hands quickly gained a life of their own then and started working on each other's body, groping, smacking and squeezing like there was no tomorrow.

"Did you really come here to give me back my jacket? And in my favorite dress?" he smirked, undressing her body from the jacket and dress she previously wore in a matter of seconds. "At three in the morning?"

"Shut up" she demanded, kissing him one more time as her hands worked to get rid of the sweatpants the same way her clothes were discarded.

Jason Todd.

They had met through common friends -- well, if you can consider them "friends". On earlier days, where her cousin, Diana Prince, the well-known and loved Princess and Ambassador of Themyscira, could still drag the redhead -- against her will -- out of her house and out of the dark pits of her mind. She was dragged by Diana to a boring gala hosted by Bruce Wayne, Jason's father, and it was there that they met each other. None of them wanted to be there, so they got along pretty well -- specially when Jason stole a bottle from his father's secret alcohol stash and they ended the night all over each other in the bathroom.

Artemis was well aware that his friends and family didn't really like her, as she was "only more trouble for Jason to handle". Well, but to that, Artemis gave them a big "fuck you". She knew what she was called, she knew how much she was hated, but she just had to get over it. 

But the problem was: she was growing feelings for Jason. Totally unexpected, yes, but she was, and they were becoming stronger each day, in the way that it was getting harder to keep them bottled in. However, she must keep them inside. Artemis had no idea if he felt the same, or if he's just playing with her, if he sees her merely as a "friend with benefits". It's okay though. She learned not to trust her heart to anyone. The less commitment to any type of emotional and human interaction, the better.

She could just ignore the storm inside her for a little longer.

Panting, her body went limp over the bed, her red hair now messily spread over the pillows as her bangs fell carelessly over her face. The bed shifted beside her, and with the familiar sound of a lighter, the well-known mixed scents of sex, his perfume and cigarettes invading her nose, giving Artemis a certain sense of... home. And safety.

Still lost in the state of dreaming, Artemis was brought back to reality by the touch of Jason's hand brushing her bangs away from her face gently, before offering her a cigarette. She gladly accepted it, sitting up on the bed by his side and lighting the cigarette up, then taking a drag as she let her back rest against the headboard.

"Hey, Red" he called out, making the woman turn her head to look at him. "Everything alright? It's been a while since you've been out of yourself..."

"I've never been myself anyways", was what the redhead wanted to say, but she bit her tongue to hold it back.

"Yes, everything is fine Jason" she turned her gaze away from his body, staring blankly at the wall in front of her as she smoked.

What was she even supposed to say? That everything was falling apart? That she was tired of feeling so shallow and empty? Tired of feeling numb? That she was cracking under the pressure of everything she had bottled inside throughout her whole life? And that, on top of all that crap, she was in love with him?!

"You can tell me anything, Red" he moved his hand to hold hers, giving it a gentle squeeze. 

"I assure you, Jason, everything's alright" she said as she put her cigarette out. "Although, I should not be here. If I must remind you, we should have not been seeing each other anymore, as your family thinks I am turning your crappy life into something even more crappy"

"What the fuck are you saying, Artemis? Since when do you give a fuck about what my family wants for me?" he asked, turning to face the redhead. "It's my life, and last time I checked, I made my own choices"

"Look, Jason, they are right" the woman protested. "When have I made any positive impact in anyone's life? All I do is screw everyone up"

As Artemis moved to get up from the bed, a strong hand wrapped around her wrist, pulling her back down and making her now face him completely.

"That's-... I-..." the man stumbled on his words, but then took a quick deep breath and recomposed himself. "Artemis, please. Tell me what's really bothering you"

And the way the weak moonlight came in through the window and shone on him, lighting up his handsome features, along with his sleepy face and messy hair pulled her in, made Artemis lose it and melt inside, feeling like a daydreaming teenager. Crawling to sit on his lap, Artemis admired his features from up close for a few seconds before she finally gave in and couldn't control herself from crashing their lips in such a delicate and passionate kiss. There was no rush, nor second intentions. Only her expressing -- for once in her life -- what goes in her heart, and someone finally receiving the message.

In a few hours, she was up with the weak sunlight of the early morning, admiring the sight of someone whose feelings for she would have to bury real soon, along with a few other things, for the last time. Bending over, she gently placed a kiss on the top of his head and brushed away his messy raven locks for the last time.

And walking out of the building, her red heels once again clicked against the cement sidewalk, now a little busier than last night. Where she was going, she had no idea. Figured out she would go where her feet instinctively took her, so when she realized where she ended up, Artemis was watching the daily rising of Gotham City from the top of Wayne Tower. How had she managed to sneak inside and come all the way to the top, she had no idea. She was out of it when she acted. This often happened, Artemis being so deep in her thoughts that she didn't even realize what she was doing until something or someone snapped her out of it.

Standing there as she watched the weak sun rise in between the cloudy sky of the city, she finally felt her body getting cold once again. It's like it was giving her a sign, allowing her to feel anything physical for one last time. Artemis wrapped her hands around her arms and rubbing them in hope to feel anything a bit warmer, now that she no longer wore the worn leather jacket she had borrowed from Jason.

Never had Artemis thought about killing herself or anything like that, but she always knew she wanted be the one to put an end to her own life. She would die at her own hands, no matter what. And somehow, thinking about everything in her life -- or rather, the nothing -- made her realize how her presence in this world was rather insignificant: she would leave nothing behind, and no one would be affected by the loss. It wasn't much of a depressing thought to her, but rather an interesting one. It was like destiny was opening up a door for her, telling her this was her chance to go by herself and finally feel completely weightless. She wondered how it felt like to finally have a weight lifted off of your shoulders, to just let your body fall into a permanent slumber, where everything is finally alright.

The redhead wasn't mentally healthy, that was certain. She needed help. But she had learned to fool everyone so well that she even fooled her damn mind, pretending everything was alright and that she was just a cold and arrogant solitary woman. She wasn't.

Artemis thought about what she had gone through in her life in hopes to mentally reward herself for something, for the first time ever. To feel like she was maybe worth something more. And so she thought, about how she had survived to her miserable childhood, never knowing about the existence of her father and having her mother dying seconds after her birth. About how she had managed to survive as a poor orphan girl in the Egyptian desert before Diana took her to America. About how she had been forced to act way older than her age since day one, in order to survive and protect herself from this world. About how a switch in her mind turned up when she landed in the Land of Freedom and made everything fall into a dark hole, isolating herself from every single interaction. About how she hid her mental illness from Diana so well that she had an argument and backed away from the redhead completely, thinking what was wrong about her was that Artemis had a drinking problem and wouldn't admit it to not get help.

How could Diana, out of all people -- the one who ever (or at least she faked it very well) cared about her, think Artemis had a problem with alcohol? The redhead had come long ago to find she had an incredibly high tolerance to alcohol and had never gotten drunk, even after a wild night drinking at the bar. Artemis, however, didn't even bother with it, only walked out and completely isolated herself inside the four walls of her small apartment downtown.

And so she gave herself a reward. For handling all of this, for all these years, 24 hours, 7 days a week, non-stop. For hiding so well. For being such a great liar. For not cracking earlier. A tiny smile appeared on her face -- one that very rarely took place on her crimson lips -- and she finally felt proud of herself. It felt... good.

Taking a deep breath, Artemis lifted her right foot off of the ground slowly, stepping on top the edge of the building. Soon after her left one followed the movement, and she was standing right on the edge, on top of one of the tallest buildings in the city, admiring the tiny version of ordinary people's lives begining with the rise of the sun. It was anytime now. She was close. And, a bit surprisingly, she didn't even feel a little bit scared. No. She didn't feel anything. At all. 

Just like if it was as normal as breathing.

Her mind had decided: that was it. She was done, her time was over. She was finally going to touch the edge of greatness. Artemis was going to jump.

Her eyes were closed, and her arms were open, ready to embrace her fate. One of her feet left the edge, sending her into a peaceful state of mind, but as she leaned forward to finally let herself go, a pair of strong arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back with such strength that they both fell to the ground, with Artemis still wrapped in the mysterious man's arms.

"Artemis, what were you going to do?! What the fuck were you thinking?!" the all so familiar male voice ringed in her ears, and she finally realized who it was that had saved -- or not -- her.

She wanted to scream. Scream at him, be angry, fight him, punch him. But she froze completely. Her eyes grew wide and her mouth fell open, but nothing came out. It was like all of the fear and sadness she was supposed to feel before had struck her like a truck.

"Artemis?" he called out, but the woman kept looking forward at the sky, shocked and afraid. "Red..."

He wrapped his arms around her tight, and the action turned on the faucet to her eyes. The redhead immediately started crying, her sobbing muffled against his shoulder, gently rubbing her back as Artemis finally cried it all out of her system. For a few minutes they stood like that, sitting on that cold concrete floor as he held the woman in his arms and she let the weight of the world fall off of her shoulders. Jason knew he didn't have much to live for, but she didn't have any more, so he was hoping they could get out of that dark hole togheter.

As the stream of tears finally stopped falling, she backed away from Jason, wiping the fallen tears from her puffy eyes with the back of her hand. Taking a look at her, the man saw through the now cracked shell of hers and saw a broken and lonely child. A reflection of himself.

The two of them had so much in common -- even the fact that they were in love with each other --, and Jason was determined to go through this rocky road with the woman. There's no way he'd let her sink any further, like it had once happened to him as well.

Moving his hand up to gently stroke her cheek with his thumb, he took a brief moment to stare deeply into her piercing emerald eyes before leaning in to retribute the passionate kiss she had given him earlier. Letting her know how he felt about her as well. After a while they finally pulled away from each other, resting their foreheads togheter.

"Are you alright?" asked Jason, softly.

"No" was Artemis' response after chuckling. "I am not alright, Jason"

"I am not alright either" he cracked a smile before reaching to hold her hand. "So what if we help each other? Try to be alright togheter?"

"That doesn't sound bad" and so the woman cracked a soft smile back at him, as they both leaned in to taste each other's lips again, as the sun rise and another day begun in the hectic Gotham City.

**Author's Note:**

> let me know what you think ,,


End file.
